Transforming Senior Living Through Digital Marketing And Innovation

Carlene Motto, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Belmont Village Senior Living

Carlene Motto is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Belmont Village Senior Living, bringing a lifelong passion for healthcare and senior care to her role. With a career spanning the entire continuum of care—from acute and long-term care to senior living—she has dedicated herself to enhancing the lives of older adults. Inspired by her grandparents and formative experiences, including cross-country travels with her grandfather, Carlene developed a deep appreciation for aging as a privilege. Her early fascination with caregiving led her to volunteer in nursing homes and shape best-in-class community programs for seniors.

Through this article, Motto highlights digital marketing’s evolving role in senior living, shifting senior preferences, innovative campaigns, resident feedback, industry trends, and key marketing insights.

The Role of Digital Marketing in Senior Living

Digital marketing is our primary focus, and we take an omnichannel approach to engage fluidly at every touchpoint – from discovery and education to brand experience and loyalty. We leverage a variety of channels to do this – search and content marketing, landing pages with easily accessible resources, online reviews and testimonials, social media storytelling and engagement, email marketing and lead nurturing, and programmatic digital advertising using a variety of tactics to reach consumers when they need us, constant analytics and optimizing to make it easy for potential residents and families to find us, get to know us and, most importantly, know that they can trust us.

Evolving Preferences of Senior Citizens

Unlike their parents, this generation is looking for more than just a place to retire. They are going to re-wire Senior Living. They want vibrant communities with active social lives and active lifestyle options. They crave fitness classes, aquatics, art classes, ongoing learning, volunteerism, and connection to community and local universities – a purposeful lifestyle. They want access to best-in-class healthcare. Seniors wish for tech that keeps them connected and safe. They want a choice. We always look for ways to innovate and adapt to stay current and relevant for our residents and their families. We work with leaders in research and development to create buildings and programs that give our residents the options and foundations they want – building multi-purpose developments with increased emphasis on wellness and access to the community, incorporating innovative technologies and healthcare tech, and developing programs that focus on building resilience. All of this is to say that we always want to help our residents embrace what is possible at every phase, and we’re making the shift now for the next generation.

Measure what matters. Consumer feedback is a gift; don’t be afraid of it. Embed technology. People are your greatest asset, so cherish them. Look outside our space for innovation

Innovative Marketing Campaigns in Senior Living

We’ve always emphasized educational marketing to address needs of specific interest to seniors and their families and to help them understand their options for best meeting those needs. During the pandemic, we launched a program of national webinars to make this information more accessible topics on Alzheimer’s disease, Nutrition, Stress, Parkinson’s Disease, and Protecting financial assets. In this vein, we’ve developed a rich library on our website– webinars, blogs, discovery quizzes, and educational eBooks, all of which we have created educational campaigns around. A few years ago, we also launched a dementia care website to provide educational information, caregiver tips, case studies, care options and resources to families who are dealing with dementia because we felt it was important for families to have a centralized resource to help guide them through what we know is a very challenging journey.

Incorporating Resident and Family Feedback

We have a variety of touchpoints for engagement and feedback – focus groups, surveys requesting feedback after initial tours and 30-60-90 days post-move-in. We monitor reviews and listen to what they have to say. We also do an annual survey for residents and families in every community. We have developed programs based on the input we’ve received to improve the resident experience, and we have used it to improve our outreach to consumers who are searching so that they can benefit from these experiences. For example, consumers wanted pricing transparency, and we gave it; they can now schedule their tours online, and we invested in an online chat option to engage with a virtual sales assistant to get questions answered at their convenience.

Industry Trends Shaping Senior Living Marketing

Our website is our new front door. Lead scoring, integration of AI-powered chatbots, and data analytics are critical to understanding customer behaviors, marketing performance, and overall brand, as well as creating personas and utilizing AI to summarize the prospect’s journey and marketing touch points. A strong content marketing strategy gives the ability to tell a unique story, educate consumers and build credibility. Social media platforms are also crucial for engagement. They let us show vibrancy and relatability that resonates with potential residents and their families- we often hear that a final decision was made based on something they saw on our social media sites. Today’s consumer expects everything they need to know to be at their fingertips, delivered based on what they need when needed. We constantly explore new ways to meet that demand and be there for them when it matters.

Advice for Senior Sales and Marketing Executives

Measure what matters. Consumer feedback is a gift; don’t be afraid of it. Embed technology. People are your greatest asset, so cherish them. Look outside our space for innovation.